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Monks’ Bread

The Story of the Commercial Bakery at the Abbey of the Genesee

As a child growing up in the Finger Lakes region of New York

State I vividly remember not only being quite fond of Monk’s

Bread but actually aspiring to be like those holy men who were

responsible for such a delight to the palate. This is a product

expectedly familiar to many who live in the Rochester area,

particularly for Roman Catholics who likely feel good about

supporting their local monastic community when purchasing the

delicious baked-goods. As I began toying with titles for this paper,

one alternative that came to mind was: Monks Bread: Converting

Customers One Slice at a Time. While somewhat borrowed and a

bit trite, the title also would not have been entirely true. Cistercian

monks would likely never purposefully descend to that sort of popular commercialism. The

Genesee Trappists who produce the bread belong to one the most austere branches of the

Cistercian order. Their notions of humility and work ethic are rooted in the 5th

century Rule of St.

Benedict and can be traced throughout a history of Cistercian observance which began in the late

11th

century. So as not to be dependent upon secular society the Cistercians became self-

sustaining communities who each carved out for themselves some sort of niche in the local

economic landscape. The practice of relying upon benefices, tithes, rents and tolls was initially

rejected by medieval Cistercians. Working with ones hands (another Benedictine principle) and

earning their own way were connected to both their sense of independence and respect for

monastic tradition ( Rule of Benedict Chapters 48, 50, 57). In the 12th

century foundational

Cistercian document Summa Cartae Caritatis (XV, XIX, XXIII) it states that the lay brothers

should manage these commercial affairs and that their contact with outside associations should

be limited. Incomes tied to monastic businesses should be in keeping with self-sufficiency and

The sixth step of humility is that a monk is content with the lowest and

most menial treatment, and regards himself as a poor and worthless

workman in whatever task he is given. RSB 7:49

Therefore, the brothers should have specified periods for manual

labor .. RSB 48:1

When they live by the labor of their hands, as our fathers and the

apostles did, then they are truly monks … RSB 48:8

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the purity of the order. While the Lay brothers of the lower social order initially carried out these

tasks in the medieval period, in the 1960’s and 70’s those who were considered “real” Trappists

were the men fully engaged in the physical labor. Today, whether it’s honey at Holy Trinity,

preserves at Spencer, or Chimay beer from Belgium, the Cistercians have quietly continued to

put their mark on commercial products.

Most of you know that the Abbey of the Genesee was the setting for Henri Nouwen’s

famous Genesee Diary. Others are aware that their motherhouse at Gethsemani, was home to

celebrated author, Thomas Merton. In 1949, when Gethsemani was just beginning to experience

a crisis of overcrowding, newly elected abbot, James Fox, received a letter from a well-to-do

attorney, Porter Chandler and his wife Gabrielle stating that they would like to donate a portion

of their estate in western New York for the development of a new monastery. Chandler was a

former Anglican who had chosen to convert to Roman Catholicism. Dom James once

commented that Porter was a man who took his faith very seriously. Chandler had read an article

about the growth of vocations at Gethsemani and became intrigued with the Trappist way of life.

In 1950 there were nearly 250 monks living at the Kentucky monastery (90 of whom were

novices) in quarters meant to accommodate 100 men. Gerard McGinley (who was soon to be

appointed Genesee’s first superior) wrote home to his family about Gethsemani’s conditions:

We have gone beyond the 250

mark... we are now stretching out

for 300. Some 30 have been

sleeping out in a tent during the

zero weather. It was so cold in

those tents that when they woke up

in the morning they found their

shoes frozen to the floor... This

Christmas will be the happiest

that has ever been at Gethsemani,

Left, Fr. Henri Nouwen and Abbot John Eudes Bamberger at the Abbey of the Genesee c. 1974. Center, The Genesee

Diary published in 1976. Right, Gethsemani Abbey and Thomas Merton, c.1955. Below right, Dom James Fox, c.

1950’s. Below center, the Gethsemani Abbey temporary dormitory for novices in the winter of 1950.

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according to the old slogan, “the more the merrier”... 1

On Easter Sunday, March 25th

, 1951 a small group of monks were assembled in a room at

Gethsemani and told that they had been chosen to set up a new foundation. The Chandlers had

arranged for the donation of nearly 1,000 acres of land to the Trappists. They began to arrive

from Gethsemani to the Genesee

Valley by car and had to stay in

the Chandler family summer home

for 4 weeks until the buildings on

the property could be renovated.

Construction of a brick guesthouse

and 3 steel-frame buildings on the

hill facing River Road began in

July of 1951.

By November of 1951 the

chapel at Bethlehem house was

completed and the community

sang their first Vespers (six on

each side). In December several

new postulants applied and were

accepted. The farm was

progressing well as they had

managed to plant 140 acres of

wheat before snowfall. However,

for much of the first year the

foundation depended almost

exclusively upon outside financial

support. By the Fall of 1951 they

also had begun to organize a dairy

assembling a modest herd of some

15 cows, 20 calves and a few

yearlings. But what would literally

become their “bread and butter”

began as a suggestion from the

early volunteers who were helping

with the physical construction of

the abbey. Many of the laborers took their meals with the lay brothers who were working on the

buildings. These workers from outside the monastic community particularly enjoyed the bread

that had been baked by the monks to be served with their meals. A number of the volunteers

asked whether or not they might purchase some of the bread and take it home to their families.

Since bread was a staple food of the community and the monks baked it regularly, this was not a

Above: The first Trappists to arrive in the Genesee Valley : (left to

right) Brother Alexis, Brother Pascal, Fr. Gerard (who was soon to

become the first abbot), Fr. Ambrose and Brother Sylvester (the

inventor of Monk’s Bread). Below: Porter and Gabrielle Chandler at

their summer residence in 1951.

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particularly difficult request to honor. Brother Sylvester, who served as a cook in the navy, had

initially used the monastery kitchen to produce his popular bread. While serving in the Pacific

during the Second World War, Sylvester would make as many as 400 loaves at a time for his

shipmates. He recounted the story of the bread’s initial popularity in a 1972 interview with

reporter Bill Lamale from the Buffalo Courier Express: “ Some of the boys from Aquinas

Institute [in] Rochester who helped clear the fields for the monastery were the first persons

outside the religious community who wanted to take home some of the bread”. 2

Given the numerous requests, Sylvester began to craft the bread into high-crowned loaves that

were about three pound each and wrapped them in coarse market paper. He used the old oven in

the kitchen of the farmhouse which served as the abbey retreat center. Guests and retreatants who

came to visit the monastery also began to request

loaves. Neighborhood stores soon asked if they

could sell the famous bread to local customers. In

1952 a wooden structure behind Bethlehem was

renovated, and it was there that the monks first

began to produce (smaller) two-pound loaves for

distribution. Peter Cleary took loaves to churches in

the Conesus Lake area which could be sold after

masses. Sylvester McGinley assisted in the

initiation of a more profitable program for wider

dispersal of the product.

Since dairy farming was originally slated to be

the prime industry of the monastery, very little

attention was given to the bread-making early on.

The bakery first started in an old schoolhouse

behind Bethlehem. There, with a small deck oven

and a table mixer, the two-pond loaves were

molded by hand. After baking and cooling they

were wrapped in cellophane and sealed with an

iron. Eventually the famous bread made its way

to Rochester. Not only did the bread provide a

welcome source of income but it also began to

help cover the cost of the new monastic buildings.

In a journal entry for late October of 1952 (found

in the abbey archives among Fr. Gerard’s notes) we find him writing: “Our first snow, 2”. Sold

1,176 loaves of bread this week. This is the most yet for one week.” 3

The new metal buildings were completed by the end of October, 1952. On October 26

th, 1952

the first Pontifical Mass in the new complex was celebrated by Abbot James Fox of the mother-

house, Gethsemani. Five hundred people were present for benediction and the liturgy. At this

time the community numbered forty-three members. By the Fall of 1953 the Genesee community

Above: Original bake house located behind Bethlehem.

Photo from the 1950’s, after the new bakery was built.

Below: Entrance to the new cloister and monastic complex

constructed in 1952.

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began to show signs of stability. Since their finances and plans for growth appeared to be in

order, the Cistercian Abbot General (during September of 1953) was able to approve an

elevation in the status of the Genesee “foundation” to that of an abbey. This would create a

greater independence from the motherhouse and allow some semblance of self-governance.

Dom James commented that it was actually quite unusual for a foundation to become an abbey

so quickly (within 2 years) but the early success of their bread-making provided the Genesee

monks with the requisite means to sustain a monastic community.

By 1953 it had become necessary to move the bread making operation up to the new buildings

on the hill overlooking River Road (the old Sherwood property). However, they still continued to

use rather simple equipment in their production process. Originally it was a two-man operation,

but once they began to function in a larger facility, the community was able to increase

productivity. Most of the labor in the bakery was done by the lay brothers. The choir monks

would assist with some of clean-up. Before long, the Genesee monks began to regularly produce

some 1,000 loaves a day (on the days they were baking). The community also decided to

continue to implement their plan for a sizable dairy, using revenues from the bread-making to

purchase a larger herd. Fr. McGinley had grown up on a farm in Wisconsin and was convinced

that the dairy venture would prove to be beneficial to the community. By the Spring of 1953 they

had 75 head of cattle. The choir monks worked clearing the land of thorn-apple trees and six

miles of fence was installed to keep the cattle in pasture. While their dairy business was doing

Above, left: One of the early commercial

labels for Monk’s Bread. The picture on the

label was the one Dom Gerard had drawn-up

to represent what the permanent Genesee

monastery might look like. Above right: Bakery

operation in the mid-1950’s. At that time they

had graduated to using 3 Blodgett ovens. By

1956 they would be fully automated. Below,

left: Brothers Elias, Paschal and Alexis (L to R).

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well, the bread making began to take off. It became so successful that they the began selling the

bread by mail.

On April 19th

, 1956 a completely automated bakery was inaugurated. There was a traveling

tray oven and a professionally designed assembly line. A rigorous schedule had to be adopted in

order to keep up with the output. The lay brothers stayed in the bakery throughout the night,

working in shifts. The entire process took 8 hours. They started mixing at 12:00 a.m.; at 2:15

a.m. another group came in to mold the loaves; at 3:30 a.m. a third group of brothers placed the

bread in the ovens to bake. The bread came out of the ovens around 5:00 a.m., then the slicing

and wrapping began. The new bakery cost $ 63,000 to build ($ 22,000 was spent on the oven

alone). 4

That same oven is still being used today! During its first year in the new facility, using

state of the art equipment, Genesee Abbey’s Monk’s Bread made an $ 86,000 profit. The plan for

Product information from

the late 1950’s. These

sleeves were often

enclosed with Abbey of the

Genesee mail orders or

given to distributors.

Gethsemani used similar

labeling in the 1950’s to

promote their cheese,

fruitcakes and breads

connected to their mail

order business called

“Gethsemani Farms”.

Right: The new

commercial oven

c. 1956

Left: Production

line at the new

bakery.

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production potential in the new bakery was to turn out an estimated 40 loaves a minute. By 1957

they were producing over 52 loaves a minute! In 1957 the white and whole wheat sold for 27

cents a loaf, the raisin for 32 cents. 5

The automated system allowed them to package 4,800

loaves an hour. Of the community’s 62 monks, 17 were working in the bakery at that time.

So successful was the new bakery operation that it even earned a feature article in the national

industry periodical Bakers Review. In 1958 profits jumped to over ¼ of a million dollars. Soon

it became necessary to work with a distributor who would be able to bring the bread as far away

as New York City. In 1959 the abbey entered into a contract to franchise out their product.

Profits from the franchise alone franchise alone reached ½ a million dollars by 1961. 6

Charlie

Above: Bakery in the late 1950’s. The 125 x 74 foot

building was constructed by the monks themselves. An

additional 90 x 35 foot building served as a storage

facility for the bakery operation.

0

100

200

300

'52 '53 '54 '55 '56 '57 '58 '59

Profits 7 10 43 56 86 220 260 252

Franchise 100

7 10 43 56

86

220

260 252

100

Thousand Dollars

Year

Bakery Profits

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Vaughn from the Roman Meal Company gave some early franchise assistance. There were two

main distributors, one in Rochester, the other in Buffalo. Bread was also shipped to Ohio,

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. NABISCO was involved in some of the franchising

during the late 1950’s and early 60’s. Bond Bakers franchised in the South. After Charlie

Vaughn left as franchise manager, Ray Bair became the new traveling manager who would come

to oversee multiple franchises.

As I began to study the various advertising labels

prepared by the distributors it seemed rather clear

that the wrappers of the bread were attempting to

send out strong messages to consumers (particularly

Catholics). Was that message conscious and

planned? I believe it was. While the Cistercians

were not historically looking for charity they did

view the success of their businesses as vital to the

survival of their communities. Likewise, the

Genesee monks saw their bread-making venture as

an important business foundation. I suspect people

actually felt they were doing something good by

purchasing the bread. (I know my family did.) For

the monks, was it an opportunity to advertise their

lifestyle? Again, I think this is undeniable. Look at

the right-hand wrapper below from 1959. It boasts:

When you place this tall loaf of slender slices on your table, you are sharing the monks’ bread

with them.

Genesee monks load a truck bound for eastern markets

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In 1960, Ward Distributing, who was helping the monks to increase their market, enlisted the

services of Grey Advertising. One of their ploys (as reported in the Nov. 22nd

issue of New York

World Telegram) was to pass out 1,200 loves of bread on the 5:29 p.m. rush hour train from New

Haven to Stamford, CT. 7

Below is one of Ward’s newspaper advertisements. This add also ran

in the New York Daily News, October 13, 1960. The Lakeland Ledger in Florida called Monks’

Bread, “the bread that was never meant to be sold, the backbone of the Trappist Monks’ simple

diet”. Dandee Bakers became one of the Florida distributors. They called it “the product of

centuries of fine bread baking”. 8

(Brother Sylvester’s recipe was certainly not centuries old.)

In a quiet green Valley, at the Abbey of

the Genesee, an unusual group of men live

and work. They eat neither meat, fish nor

poultry, but subsist largely upon the bread

they bake. This remarkably satisfying food

has come to be known as “Monks’

Bread.” Now Monk’ Bread has come to

New York. And today, you can share the

same nourishing loaf that sustains the

monks year in and year out through their

rigorous labors. You will find it far

different from any other bread. More truly

satisfying. Heartier. The way bread once

was meant to taste. You will even enjoy it

plain. Monks’ Bread is now at your food

store. Look for it in the tall loaf, in white,

whole wheat, or raisin.

While the monks did eat a diet devoid of meat, they

certainly did not “subsist largely on the bread they

baked”. The Genesee community would eat the

cripples, loaves that were not quite perfect enough to

sell, but ate a simple diet of soups, vegetables, crops

grown on their farm, and dairy from their barns.

The distributors and franchise bakeries continued to further play up the monastic angle in their

advertising. In 1962 the Genesee monks directly hired the Rumrill Company to begin promotion of

their products. Prior to this, the franchises and licensees were free to create their own

advertisements. A 1962 Rochester newspaper add for the bread appears on the next page:

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In 1963, an advertisement in the

Courier Journal (the local Rochester

Diocesan newspaper) proclaimed:

This bread may very well make the

best toast you ever tasted... Monks’

bread has a flavor you can’t toast

away. It has goodness you won’t

find in most breads. It’s a bread

that wasn’t meant to be sold. It

began as a simple sustenance for

the monks at the Abbey of the

Genesee. All the good things the

monks baked into their full-

flavored loaf naturally toasts up

better. Try Monks’ Bread

tomorrow, toasted. 9

The Monks’ Bread story

continued to be told on the

wrappers and inserts. While

business was thriving there was

never any pressure for the monks

to alter their daily routine.

In a 1962 interview with

Bill Beeney of the

Rochester Democrat and

Chronicle, Brother Clair

pointed out: “we do not

press for production,

because that would cut

into our religious life and

defeat the entire purpose

of the program”.10

A crew

to 10 to 12 monks works

in the bakery each day

turning out what they

comfortably can each

shift.

So what has become

clear is that a delicate

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balance was sought between the commercial enterprise of bread-making and the routine of

monastic life. When I was originally working on this material for my doctoral dissertation (in the

late 90’s) my core adviser suggested I attempt to address the spirituality behind the famous bread.

This seemed like a good idea. Most of us can imagine connections between the bread and the

Eucharist, bread as the staff of life, or bread as a metaphor for both intellectual and spiritual food.

I found an interesting quote in Thomas Merton’s Seven Story Mountain that connected the image

of bread to spiritual teaching. Merton was referring to a letter written by the great Cistercian

spiritual master, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, to Henry Murdac of York, sometime around 1128.

(I will cite the original letter here.) Bernard wrote:

If I could but have you as my fellow in the school of piety of which Jesus is the master...

How gladly would I share with you the warm loaves, still piping hot, fresh as it were from

the oven, that Christ of his heavenly bounty so often breaks with his poor. Would that when

God sweetly deigns to shed upon his poor servant a drop of that heavenly dew which he

keeps for his chosen…11

The spiritual writer Henri Nouwen, during his seven month stay at the Abbey of the Genesee,

spent a good deal of time in the bakery. Yet he did not seem to make many connections between

this particular type of labor and the spiritual significance of the bread. The closest he came was

after his first day in the bakery when he wrote:

After Lauds - the communal morning prayer at 5:00

a.m. - Brother Anthony put me to work in the

bakery on the “hot bread line”. With baseball-like

gloves I picked up hot bread... and put them on

racks to be pushed away into the “cooling room”...

When I saw hundreds of loaves moving in my

direction I panicked. Brother Christian smiled and

took a few of “my loaves”... Meanwhile, I meditated

on the sentence “With sweat on your brow you shall

eat your bread” (Gen. 3:19). Bread and sweat had

never been closer together in my life.” 12

Following that incident Nouwen hardly had anything

good to say about the bakery, let alone any romantic

notions linking the bread to the spirituality. The bakery

is hard work and in its current mechanized state it is a

very noisy place. The closest I could get to the Genesee

monks reporting any spiritual connections to the bread-

making was the Benedictine notion mentioned by a few

of the monks concerning work (labora) being a form of

prayer. Brother Anthony once commented in a

newspaper interview:

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Making bread or any other work becomes, for a monk, an act of prayer. Our work

is an extension of the devotion we feel for God. Making bread or any other work

becomes, for a monk, an act of prayer. Our work is an extension of the devotion we

feel for God. 13

With the changes in leadership at the Abbey of the Genesee came changes in the bakery.

Abbot John Eudes (elected in 1971) oversaw upgrades and renovation through the 1970’s. Father

Joseph initiated the construction of a loading dock at the bakery entrance after a number of

brothers suffered back injuries from carrying 100 lb. sacks of flour. A short time after that they

went on to install a bulk flour system. In the late 1970’s the bakery was upgraded with the

installation of a divider, overhead proofer and Helimatic system for cooling the bread. Prior to

the Helimatic system the bread was stacked by hand onto cooling trays. (Henry Nouwen told the

story in the mid 70’s of having to remove the hot loaves with the use of using special oven mitts.)

The financial condition of the community and its Monks Bread industry were so strong that

during the 1970’s it had been able to help start and sustain two daughter affiliates in the Third

World. With the completion of the new Church, the gatehouse, the redesigning of space for a

larger library along with technological improvements in the bakery, the community had

positioned itself for a successful transition from the Vatican II era into the age of the

contemporary Catholic Church. With the daughter houses, income from the bread became

increasingly important. Parishes in Rochester sold it every Sunday to congregants. Generous

donations (some 1,000 loaves a week were sent to soup kitchens). In 1973 a one pound loaf of

white bread cost 50 cents. It began to steadily increase through the decade. Prices for ingredients

began to double. Franchise production of the bread by Millbrook was at its peak. The monks

Photos of the bakery in February of 1979

including a new cooling rack system

(above).

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used the money they made from the bread they personally baked to support the monastery.

Franchise profits were given to charity. There was pressure by Millbrook for the monks to

increase production, but they stuck to a three day baking schedule.

During the 1980’ and 90’s a number of family brothers were hired to work in the bakery.

Throughout the 90’s all able community members (some 35 men or so) spent time working the

bakery shifts. The franchising of the bread operation ended in 1990. The community no longer

needed the revenue and began to rely on local production, making some 15,000 loaves a day on

bake days (Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday).

They increased the varieties of bread,

producing: white, wheat, raisin, sunflower, rye, and they also bake fruitcakes and brownies

during the Holiday Season. Adding variety however has slightly cut down upon the efficiency of

their operation. In the 1990’s, they decided to go back to using an independent distributor

Bakery production in the 1990’s.

Mechanized Abbey of the Genesee Bakery in the 1970’s

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(Charles Lazio) which resulted in the need for increased production to over 39,000 loaves a

week. In the late 1990’s the community began to once again develop franchise accounts with

bakeries in Florida and Vermont.

During my 2002 interviews with several of the Genesee Family Brothers I again asked the

same question concerning spirituality and the bread. Each one saw little if no connection. Again,

this is a testament to the bakery being a hot, noisy, uncomfortable place where a rigor of

schedule has to be maintained. Longtime Family Brother, Ross Cimino, expressed a certain

peace and joy that he feels when delivering the bread to soup kitchens and food pantries in

Rochester. He said the cab of his van often feels like his own personal hermitage. Maybe the

realization of a spiritual link occurs with the consumer’s connection to the finished bakery

product that is made by the hands of these holy men. The retreatants at the Abbey who break this

bread at breakfast must certainly feel some gratitude toward the monks who made it. Might

consumers (who eat and enjoy the bread) indicate an appreciation for monastic life through their

offering of a slightly higher than usual price for this food? When the bread franchising took off

in the 1960’s, the monks were careful to put the label “Made by Trappist Monks” on loaves

which were produced exclusively at the Abbey.

Today the equipment has become even more

sophisticated with the incorporation of computers into the

process. Their mail order business is now highly

dependent upon online orders. The graying of the

community (average age is now 62) has caused them to hire a full-time group of laity to run the

bakery operation. An advisory committee of monks still gives input and advice. There are 16 lay

workers (in 2012) who work on the production lines, operate and repair equipment, drive

delivery trucks and work in the business office. Some monks (15 or 16) are still involved in

various facets of the baking. Normally the bakery produces 50,000 loaves a week which includes

Left: Computerized machinery in the bakery.

Above, right: the tractor trailer truck that transports Monks’

Bread. The trailer is owned by the Abbey.

- 15 -

10 varieties of the bread. Bake days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The facility is capable

of mixing 1,000 loaves at a time and the machinery can handle 60 loaves a minute. Randy Colvin,

a retired businessman (and former machinist at the abbey bakery for 7 years) is now in charge.

He has helped the facility pass rigorous certification from the BRC (British Regulatory

Commission) and the AIB (American Institute of Baking). The abbey is still associated with one

franchise operation, the St. Armand Bakery in Florida. During my last visit (in 2012) there was

some reported talk about converting one of the garages into a new production line (the abbey has

always been a single production line) which might serve as a place for tourism where people

could come and see the monks bake bread. This might possibly constitute a major shift toward

future commercialism while at the same time furthering the 21st century awareness of the

Trappist way of life (for a whole new generation).

Tim J. Davis

Associate Professor of Humanities

Columbus State & Otterbein University

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Above: Photo of trailer from the loading dock.

Right: At the loading dock, Brother Edward, who was

visiting from Mepkin Abbey, looks on as Brother

George Fyffe gets ready to load the finished product

into the carrying trays. Today both men would be

wearing hair and beard nets due to stricter AIB

regulations.

- 16 -

Footnotes

1. Gerard McGinley, A Trappist Writes Home; Letters of Abbot Gerard McGinley O.C.S.O. To

His Family, Intro. by Fr. Raymond O.C.S.O. ( Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing, 1960), pp. 131-2.

2. Bill Lamale, “Fame, Aroma of Trappists’ Bread Widely Expanded”. Buffalo Courier Express

(Jan 6 , 1972).

3. Journal of Fr. Gerard McGinley, entry for Oct. 20th

1952 (Genesee Abbey Archives).

4. Tim Davis’ 9/16/2000 Interview on the History of the Bakery with Brother Theodore, and

Tim Davis’ Oct. 2000 interview with Brother Theodore. During the mid-1950’s they normally

baked 3 or 4 days a week.

5. Norman J. Baratt, “Monks’ Bread Achieving Ever-Growing Popularity”. The Tablet.

(Saturday, December 14, 1957).

6. These figures and the statistics from the chart on page 7 come from hand written records kept

by Brother Theodore who was one of the monks in charge of the Bakery from 1956 to 2003. I

interviewed him during September and October of 2000 . He showed me samples of the old

mimeo-graphed forms they used when jotting down daily and weekly production.

7. Alfred Russell, “Monks Bread Cast on Commuter Path”. New York World Telegraph

(Tuesday November 22, 1960).

8. “Monks’ Bread To Be Sold Here”. Lakeland Ledger ( December 12, 1957).

9. Courier Journal, Advertisement for Monks’ Bread (Friday October 25, 1963).

10. Bill Beeney, “A Study in Contrasts”. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Sunday February

11, 1962).

11. Bruno Scott James (editor & translator), The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

(Kalamazoo Michigan, Cistercian Publications, 1998), Letter 108, p. 156.

12. Henri Nouwen, The Genesee Diary: Report from a Trappist Monastery. (New York: Image

Books, 1981), p. 23-33.

13. “Bread Profitable Venture For Abbey Monks”, Democrat & Chronicle (April 22, 1979).

------------------------------------------

Bibliography

Bamberger, John Eudes. “Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen: Living with God in Modern

America”. The Merton Seasonal ( Summer 2000, Vol. 25, No. 2).

Benedict, Abbot of Monte Cassino. Benedict’s Rule. Translation and Commentary by Terrance

Kardong. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1996.

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The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Bruno Scott James (editor & translator). Kalamazoo

Michigan, Cistercian Publications, 1998.

“Bread Profitable Venture For Abbey Monks”, Democrat & Chronicle (April 22, 1979).

Carroll, Walter. “Cowled Farmers of The Genesee Valley” Syracuse Post Standard Pictorial

( August 14th

, 1955), pp. 1-10.

Chandler, Porter. Unpublished Autobiography. PRC Biographical Notes. Written by Porter

Chandler between 1964 and 1977. A handwritten copy is in the home of Kathleen Houston,

Geneseo N.Y. (Porter’s granddaughter). This is the copy I had access to while doing research.

Typed copies are in the possession of Dr. David Chandler,Washington D.C. (Porter’s son) and at

the New-York Historical Society, in New York City.

Davis, Timothy J. A History of the Abbey of the Genesee. Doctoral Dissertation, Union Institute.

Cincinnati OH, 2003.

Frank, Mark. “Bakery Produces At Its Own Pace”. Augusta Herald (May 2, 1979).

McGinley, Gerard. A Trappist Writes Home; Letters of Abbot Gerard McGinley O.C.S.O. To His

Family. Introduction. by Fr. Raymond O.C.S.O. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing, 1960.

Nouwen, Henri. The Genesee Diary: Report from a Trappist Monastery. New York: Image

Books, 1981.

Russell, Alfred. “Monks Bread Cast on Commuter Path”, New York World Telegraph (Tuesday

November 22, 1960).

Toomey, Gerry. Oral History of the Abbey of the Genesee. Senior Honors Project, SUNY

Geneseo, 1975. Audio-taped Interviews of numerous monks 1974-75.

All photographs and labels (expect for the book covers for Rule of Benedict, Bakers Review

and Genesee Diary) are from the Abbey of the Genesee archives and were used with

permission in my doctoral dissertation. Rochester newspapers have also given permission.